Why do modded cars bother you so much?

Some of you *cough*Hurdigurdiman*cough* are vehemently outspoken against people who choose to modify their cars. Why is this? I'm genuinely curious why this bothers some people. Please note that I am asking this question in earnest, rather than in the snide, sarcastic, and/or overtly rude manner I normally assume...

Never has bothered me. But I think main issue with modded cars is abuse. Most people think that if its modded then its most likely has been abused. If someone saw my car they would think Im at the track every weekend. I do a lot of spirited canyon driving but haven't been to the track "yet" for the past two years I have owned it. At the time I was buying the car there were quite a few candidates but I chose this one cuz it had all the mods I would eventually do if i had bought a bone stock car.

I think we've all seen horrendous mods (like fluorescent flame jobs on PT Cruisers) - but most don't get wound up about it. Some of the folks in this forum get noticeably upset, though. Is there some belief that the car as equipped by Porsche is perfect, and messing with it is sacrilege?

I like to buy stock, unmodified cars and then modify them :P I think there is a place for both sets. People who want to preserve and those that want to create. I prefer to create. I like things to look and feel a certain way and no manufacturer has been able to capture the look or feel that I want. Performance wise I am quite happy with stock power plants. I may tweak them a bit but overall not much needs to happen. I almost went with air bag suspension on this 911.... but since I already did that to my other car I thought I would make this one for driving :P

I've never seen a car that wouldn't look better with modifications done to it. I can't stand driving a factory-stock car, I need to make it "mine".

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+1

Depends on what you mean. I think people don't like to buy modded cars because you can't rely on the modifier like you can the manufacturer. Some people don't like modified cars, period, because they are a purist. Or have strong personal preferences at least. I don't understand being upset because someone modified their own property if the item in question is fairly mass produced.

I agree. Now if Porsche had just designed it properly to start, none of these mods would have been necessary:

Tasteful and subtle... very nice. I think that's a Carrera OMG-T

that actually looks pretty... bad.

To me, it is a matter of personalizing my cars. I am annoyed with I park in a lot with 3 or 4 other cars just like mine. Some nicer aftermarket wheels, low profile tires, some small changes to the exhaust and maybe an updated stereo. Sometimes that is enough to make me feel special about my car

Who cares? It's your car, do what you want. If you hurt resale value, oh well. And why do we all have to look at that stupid "Mil-Spec Monkey" banner with every (too frequent) post??

I'll be sure to change my signature ASAP - I wasn't aware it was bothering you. You're also welcome to change your display preferences in your user control panel instead of carping about it...

My problem with mod'd cars is several fold. 1) A lot of mod's suggest the car getting subjected to a type of usage that I believe is harmful to the car. Thus I would give the car a miss as readily if I found out the car was not properly serviced or even if not mod'd, tracked. 2) There is the question of the real effect of the mod or mod's. For instance a mod that I believe (based on my experience and knowledge) results in no benefit and in fact can increase engine wear or otherwise negatively impact the engine or the car. Others just make the car less enjoyable to own/operate and harder/more expensive to service/maintain. 3) There is the question of keeping up with all the mods. It is hard enough to evaluate a stock used car but toss in mod's and then one has a real task evaluating the car. And many car owners like to mix and match so there is X tune, with Y exhaust, and Z intake, and then the owner has his own ideas about plugs, or oil or whatever, and I can't be bothered sorting it all out and the risk is too great to take a shot and hope the car's ok.

^^ short of finster exhaust , some coilovers and upgraded suspension

A friend if mine put every kind Of Mod "He" could put on. Every thing he could order Went to the mix. We called his P Car " the bolt-on Beauty "

Good points, Macster, and quite rational. While I generally avoid modified used cars, the previous owner's choice in parts were one of the reasons I purchased my 996. Every aftermarket item on my car was of the highest quality, a decent indication that the previous owner did not cheap out when it came to maintaining the car. Since the car came from a dealership with no maintenance records, this and the inspection were the only indications I had to go on for how the car had been cared for by the previous owner.

I was getting REALLY upset about Mil-Spec Monkey too. I kicked the dog twice today over it.

Outside of the list in my signature of things I have or have had added my car is stock. Finally adding Tarett droplinks and adjustable sways.......that should be the end until I find something else to improve. For those who don't like molds you have to at least try on improving your suspension. You won't regret it.

What monkey?

Gotta agree with the Macster on modding the 996. The C4S is pretty much perfect as is. Exhaust and intake mod is OK with me but not much else. Some peeps who mod really f$%$ up the car.

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Exactly my preference as well! Though I also don't mind buying modified cars if: They are mods to my preference (and many are not..) I'm confident they were done to a high standard. The car can be put back to stock without too much cost or hassle.

Hi mods scream out to me:-Some burk listening to boom boom loud music, driving in the wrong gear because of not hearing the engine tone and consequently flying off the road on an icy patch because the car was in the wrong gear to get him out of trouble. A guy who should have saved all the modding money and bought a more modern 911. Just a sheep following other sheep on a crazy trend because he doesn't have a mind of his own. It doesn't matter how the car runs, but it does matter how it looks to other modding guys. God I have never heard guys up each others ***** like they are on these forums. "Form a circle shouts the last one" haha. All that BS about making the car 'your own'. No its putting money in others pockets instead of putting it into your newer model car. TT if you want. I don't blame a guy for buying a car that is already modded if the price does not include what it cost to mod it out, but to spend further money beats me. High mods say that person is not using his head correctly. Bad judgment. Not that I am saving for a newer model. The car I have is extra special. Its a clean 911. Only slightly modded. Hey I could go on all night. But who gives a **** what I think anyway.

Hurdi, I think your thinking of the Honda mod crowd... Here are some of my 'Burk boom boom mods' I did to my 100% stock car after purchasing it... Not a single one do i regret doing, or couldn't be returned to stock in a few hours. All have made a significant improvement in my driving enjoyment. 997 ssk shifter console. Lowered to euro ride height/sport springs. GT3 alignment. Removal of factory noise-reduction air box engineering. Upgrade to modern nav and sound system. Upgraded brake pads / fluid. IMS guardian.

Hurd......I understand where you are coming from. There are two types of modders. The type that what the neon lighting underneath the car and the big sound system or the type that go for performance things. I'm the latter. Have you ever had the chance to be a passenger at a DE event? If not you need to....just to feel what these cars can do. Or maybe you could careless and am happy with the way car performs as is. And that's ok. My suspension is a Porsche euro sport so not sure if that is considered a mod because it is pcar parts. Drive your car than mine and it might change your mind. Btw I haven't turned on the radio in a few years. Boils down to for each its own.

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I asked the question in earnest, believe it or not. Seems to me that refusing to consider tinkering with the car is just as / more "sheepish" than getting in there and going to town on whatever items you want to customize. I suspect that a decent percentage of 911 drivers own the car because it's a status symbol. Folks who have never tracked the car or used it in an environment where its pedigree shines are just as guilty of the circle-jerk as the guy strapping purple underglow onto his Civic. The majority of Porsche drivers aren't exactly pushing the envelope - a turbo Hyundai Veloster would handle the driving demands of folks who don't track their 911. Buying more car than you need or will ever use is just as ostentatious and shallow as the most grievously modded Porsche/Subaru/Honda/whatever.

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C'mon Hurdi...you are a "modder". Don't forget about the extra letters on your rear end!

I think all depends on the mods, but personally I don't like most. I dislike most after market wheels and really hate the "slammed look". Even when something is high quality and done right it can still look cheap and tacky (but the definition of tacky is personal). I also think Porsche got it right for our needs/desires, so don't feel a need to tweak the engine or suspension. If we ever got serious about DE or AutoX that would of course be different. Other than being depumpkined and having the stereo replaced ours is stock. That isn't to say we wouldn't do something else if it took our fancy though. We just like the look and how it performs already. My old Escape, however, got a real stereo, I tore out the interior and covered it with sound mat, and installed a computer. The Cayenne is in the shop right now getting new head and tail lights as well as a different front bumper. As far as buying a modded car, probably not. The main thing is finding one with stuff I like/want or think I can replace cheap. The other is that even though everyone knows you can't get back what you put into modding a car, everyone tries, so why pay more for something I don't like 100%?

owners are free to mod their car as they wish and if you ask for my opinion on a mod i will give you an honest answer. just be prepared for a negative if i feel it earned it. as far as for buying a modded car that really depends on way too much...."what mods" but as a rule i would shy away from them.off topic....................................................PLEASE BRING BACK THE MIL SPEC MONKEY

Anyone can return car back to stock before selling so that's a moot point for me. On the flip side, some people that leave cars of this caliber stock do it out of being cheap or lazy. What I mean by this is I've seen stock cars that have been replaced with non OEM replacement parts or cheap tires. Also personally, I can't stand owners that only replace one thing out of a set, like 1 ball joint or 1 tie rod. Then there are newbs or the careless DIYer that replace parts with good intention but doesn't execute it to the tee, meaning they forget to tighten some bolts or doesn't put everything back to factory specs. This is what scares me the most frankly. So the point is some modded cars can actually be better maintained than some stock ones. My $.02

Mods that suggest really hard, competitive use (in terms of whether I would buy the car), or, on the flip side, replicate something the car is not (poseur, like aping everything distinctively aesthetic about a Turbo, but not being one) work less for me. Nice wheels (not too pimped out), nice sound system, something like a Fister exhaust -- that is all good.

People who *don't* upgrade their suspensions drive me nuts, especially in the NA market where the ride height is dictated by safety regulations rather than being optimized for performance. You can bet your bottom dollar that Porsche would not ship Porsches to the USA at the ridiculous ride height to do if they didn't have to. L Likewise the suspension settings - not sure if a more performance oriented alignment counts as a mod or not but the stock setup dials in a bit more understeer than optimum in the interest of "safety". Suspension mods are an entirely appropriate investment to make in whatever Porsche you own - new, old, Turbo or not. ....maybe leave a GT3 alone but even then it could possibly benefit from an alignment. As far as mods like replacing the stock 966 shifter with a 997 shifter, Porsche refines their products all the time - why wouldn't you take advantage of that? Plus it's only a few dollars - hardly the same as investing in a newer car. That all said - I get a bit annoyed with the bling crowd - and that includes Hurdi-alphabet soup-gurdiman. I'm all for letting people do what they want - but sometimes it reflects poorly in the rest of us, some of whom prefer to be a little more *ahem* understated. And can someone explain the mil-spec monkey thing? I know what a monkey is but...

Hi Jasper. Where have you been? Happy Thanksgiving.

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milspecmonkey.com is a (completely unaffiliated to me) site selling some very random swag, some of which I happen to like. I included a small banner in my sig for two days, which apparently was long enough to make at least one person spin unexpectedly out of control. *shrug* Here's a representative, offensive, unacceptable, and damn funny example of the crap they sell...

^^ You may enjoy perusing some of the swag for sale at: http://www.philosophersguild.com/home.php (no affiliation, but some funny stuff!) A sampling: .

Hehe - that's some irreverent stuff right there. Still confused but in a different way. Thx..I think Hey Hurdi - been really busy so haven't posted much. Working on a Masters degree and I got deep into motorcycling. I didn't renew my membership here so I can't post pictures until I clean up my history - it just became difficult to post stuff. I did a heap of maintenance on the sled in the meantime, painted the wheels gunmetal, the calipers red. Fixed my soft brake pedal after 5 years of it bgging me. Turned out the brake booster was flaky. huh. Anyway - off topic. mil-spec monkey eh? Should google it I guess. edit - got it. Guy what runs the site has nickname monkey and he's a design guy and he likes tactical stuff. Mil-spec means military specification (give me a break - I'm Canadian - we don't do military here).

My take on the whole thing is that I don't care if people mod their cars. I also don't care if people don't. And doesn't Hurdi have a huge sticker that says: "PORSCHE" on his rear bumper? Isn't that a mod?

I'm kind of a purist myself, but someone made the earlier point - to each their own